


King Merlin of Essetir

by Saturning



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Essetir, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forced Marriage, Hurt, Hurt Merlin, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, King Merlin of Essetir, M/M, Merlin is King of Essetir, Merlin's Magic Revealed, Merthur - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Once and Future King, Royal!Merlin, Trauma, Uther Finds Out About Merlin's Magic, king!merlin, merlin needs a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-07-24 09:59:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16172789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saturning/pseuds/Saturning
Summary: One day the kingdom of Camelot receives a message that Cenred, the King of Essetir, died of an illness. The king and his son decide to invite the new king to Camelot, not knowing that it wouldn't be Cenred's son Mordred, but his secret, and gorgeous, husband Merlin instead, who Arthur almost instantly falls in love with.Merlin however, held quite a few secrets which were yet to be uncovered, regarding his marriage with Cenred, his mental stability, his magical abilities and whole of Essetir.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> Welcome to my new fanfiction! Yes, another Merthur one. I can't ever get enough of them. I don't know yet how long the story will be, but I hope you enjoy it anyways! I do love the concept of Merlin being King, by the way.  
> Have fun reading and I hope you'll like it!
> 
> Kudos and comments would be greatly apprecciated!  
> \- Saturning

“Yes, father? Why have you summoned me?”, Arthur asked as soon as he entered the hall.

Uther put down the roll of parchment he had been holding and looked at his son with some kind of expression, Arthur couldn’t really identify.

“Cenred, the King of Essetir recently died”, the King told calmly. There wasn’t a trace of bitterness in his voice, Uther certainly wasn’t sad about it, but he lowered his tone appropriately, after all they were talking about the death of a king.

“I thought Cenred wasn’t that old? Did he fall in battle?”, the blonde approached the table the king sat at and leaned on one of the great chairs, eyeing his father curiously.

“No, he died of some sort of bad incurable illness. However that is not the main point. They have a new king now, I assume it’s his son Mordred, as that is not talked about clearly I can only assume it, and I think we should invite him to Camelot. Maybe we can agree on some sort of peace treaty, establish new boundaries and more. We should try our best to prevent any future battles with Essetir, as they proved themselves as strong and powerful enemies, it would certainly be better for Camelot to have them as an ally instead.”

“Yes, that does sound like an intelligent plan. So you want to have him stay for some time at our court, so we can prove ourselves as loyal allies as well?”, he asked inquisitively.

“Exactly. I thought about maybe two weeks. That gives us enough time to discuss several points with him _and_ prove ourselves and Camelot as powerful and loyal. I wanted to ask for your opinion before I send the letter.”

Surprised Arthur nodded along. His father does not often ask for his opinion on things, certainly not if it’s regarding such a great matter.

“You have my approval. But may I ask what made you ask for my opinion in the first place?”

“Regarding Cenred’s sudden death I figured, we can’t know if something similar could happen to me in the future and I would rather have you prepared to be king anytime, Arthur. I want you to be ready to lead this kingdom.”

“I appreciate your concern and I am delighted and excited that you want me to be involved more, but it’s still ridiculous, you are at best-”

“Best health, I know. Of course, but we can never be certain. Just accept my decision.”

“Of course, Sire.”

“That’s it already. We will expect him to be here in about one and a half week, if he chooses to accept our invitation, that is. You’re dismissed.”

Arthur bowed his head respectfully and then proceeded to leave the hall, making his way to the courtyard where the knights already awaited him.

 

Uther should be proven right, as exactly one and a half week later, Arthur found himself standing on the courtyard, dressed up in his royal princely clothes next to his father, waiting for the new King of Essetir to arrive. He would be lying, if he would deny being excited at all. Indeed he was very interested in the new king, given that he knew the man could only be around his age. Maybe the point that Arthur found out rather recently that he was, in fact, into men, added on to his excitement.

Not even ten minutes later the distant sound of hooves patter on stone started to approach quicker until two men on horses were in sight, slowing rapidly down as they caught sight of the courtyard as well. Eventually they came to a halt in the middle of the yard and Arthur was surprised to find out no one else was riding behind them. It appeared that these two men travelled all by themselves, no servants or guards whatsoever, though one did look like a knight, a handsome knight, one might add. However, Arthur’s gaze wasn’t fixed on the knight, but more on the indeed gorgeous new King of Essetir. He wore the for Essetir usual dark clothes and just a simple silver crown with small blue stones in it on top of his messy coal black hair. His blue eyes stood in perfect harmony with his dark robes and though he appeared to be rather skinny and lanky, he radiated some sort of power and confidence, something Arthur only witnessed few times in his life. He was graceful. Even jumping off his horse looked elegant and the prince almost forgot how to breathe, as the king started walking towards them, the knight at his side. His first thought was _oh god he’s coming over to me,_ before he remembered that he was, in fact, the crown prince and the king of Camelot stood right next to him. Of course the king of Essetir would walk over to them.

“Good afternoon, Sire. I am very pleased to meet you”, he said, respectfully bowing his head in front of Uther and shaking his hand politely, as soon as he reached their stand.

“Welcome to Camelot, my Lord. If I may introduce myself, just in case, I am Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot and this is my son, the crown prince of Camelot, Arthur.” Uther waved his hand at the blonde, whose heart literally stopped for a few seconds as the king turned to look at him, a beaming smile on his lips.

“Very pleased to finally meet you, as well. I have heard a lot about the Pendragon’s and Camelot.”

The man shook Arthur’s hand as well, though Arthur only smiled cheerfully, as he couldn’t trust himself to speak quite yet.

“Needless to say, the kingdom is as beautiful as foretold.”

“I am glad you see it as such, King Mordred.”

“Oh! I am incredibly sorry, I should have known and introduced myself as well”, the king suddenly spoke, and if Arthur could really trust his eyes, a faint blush appeared on his cheeks.

“I am Merlin, King of Essetir.”

“What? We didn’t know Cenred had a second son. What happened to Mordred?”, Uther asked, trying to hide is confusion, though he didn’t succeed.

“That’s because he doesn’t. I am no son of Cenred’s, I am his former husband, a widower, if you want to call it such.”

Once again Arthur felt his heart stopping in his chest and then proceeding to beat at the speed of light. The king was _gay_?

“How’s that possible? Surely, we would have known of Cenred having a husband!” Uther appeared to be getting impatient, though Merlin wasn’t shocked nor intimidated by it, not even a little surprised. It was as if he had known the King would ask questions similar to these.

“Cenred liked to keep his private life, well, private. That included me. We have been married for seven years, but he kept it secret for anyone outside Essetir, successfully as it seems.”

“Excuse my importunity, my lord, but that is rather hard to believe. How can we assure that you are in fact Cenred’s former husband?”

“Are you suggesting my King is lying to you about his ancestry?”, the knight chimed in, hand already on his sword. Merlin quickly shook his head.

“I’m sorry, don’t listen to Gwaine. He’s my head knight and just very protective. Anyway, if you wish, I will give you all the information you need of me. Surely you have someone who can work out my ancestry?”

“Yes, yes, of course we do”, Uther nodded and signed to one of the servants, who quickly approached the king.

“Get Geoffrey from the library to check if Cenred married a man named Merlin seven years ago. And do it quick”, he ordered through gritted teeth. The servant simply nodded and rushed off into the castle.

Arthur curiously watched how relaxed the former King seemed to be, for that he was questioned by another King. Shouldn’t it upset him in some way?

Uther turned back to Merlin at last, a polite but fake smile decorating his face once more.

“I am truly sorry for the inconvenience, as for I have no reason yet to doubt you, my lord. You are very welcomed in Camelot. Surely, you are exhausted from the ride, Arthur will show you your chambers and we will have servants ready for your orders anytime, so you will have everything you need. I am looking forward to dine with you this evening”, Uther declared, still clearly suspicious of Merlin, who did not choose to act on that.

“Thank you very much for your kindness, Sire. I will see you at dinner then. Shall we?” He looked at Arthur again with those kind blue eyes, causing his knees to feel weak.

“Yes, of course”, the prince managed to say, surprisingly confident, whilst already turning around to lead the king and his knight into the castle.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, these are your chambers, my lord. If you need anything, the servants will be willing to help you with anything and my chambers are just down the next corridor as well. We hope to make your stay as pleasant as possible, so please don’t hesitate to talk to the servants, knights, or me in that matter if anything is bothering you”, Arthur told formerly, a beaming smile on his lips nonetheless.

“Thank you very much, I hope to not be a burden on any of you and I bet my stay will be fantastic. Besides, as long as I know Gwaine is not kept far away from me, I’m in good hands. But I do have one request. Please, would you call me Merlin? I am no fan of this whole ‘my lord’ and ‘sire’ stuff, though I know to keep it up when I’m with the king. He values correct titles, doesn’t he?”

Arthur stared at him blankly for a second, until he remembered how to talk properly.

“Ah, yes, of course he does. But I’ll gladly set them aside, so please just call me Arthur as well.”

“Nice name, I always liked it. We had an Arthur at our court in Essetir once.” Merlin’s eyes appeared to glow out of excitement, as they still stood at the door to his chambers.

“Really?”, Arthur asked sincerely interested in everything Merlin was willing to tell him, even if it was only about the stray cats of Essetir. Really, he would listen to anything that escaped those beautiful full lips. Oh the things he’d give to hear him ~~moan~~ say his name more often.

“Regarding that you said ‘once’ I assume he’s not there anymore?”

Promptly the glowing expression faded from the King’s face and a dark and sad shadow replaced it. Arthur instantly felt bad about asking the question, he should have known it wouldn’t end well.

“No, he is dead. Fallen in a mission under Cenred’s control”, Merlin told through gritted teeth, gaze dropped to the floor. It was then that Arthur first questioned the backgrounds of the royal marriage. Could a man talk about his recently deceased husband that bitterly, if he had loved him? He had just opened his mouth as the man shook his head, seemingly banishing the thoughts from his head and changing the topic.

“Anyway, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, my l- Merlin.”

“Did I make a fool out of myself today? I was really trying to be as intimidating as I could manage to impress your father. It would be a great shame if this possible alliance would fail, because I cannot keep myself together.”

Arthur laughed sincere.

“Don’t worry! I mean, you weren’t intimidating, that was more Gwaine’s part, but you did establish your power very well, father was impressed, I can tell.”

A relieved sigh passed the other man’s lips and he visibly relaxed, a beaming smile on his face again to Arthur’s delight.

“You won’t believe how glad I am to hear that. After all Cenred told me a lot about the stubborn and hard to impress King Uther of Camelot. I feared he would view me as weak the second I got off my horse.”

“You looked graceful rather than weak.”

“Graceful, huh? That’s new. Usually I’m pretty much the opposite. Cenred used to tell me that quite often.” Again Arthur noticed the slight change in expression as Merlin mentioned the name of his former husband. Something in the way that the boy lowered his voice whenever he talked about him, eyes dropping to the floor, made Arthur just a bit uncomfortable. As if something was deeply wrong, but he couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t pin it down.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it. I think you’re very elegant.”

“Not for long, I’m afraid, but that’s okay. Being elegant is just not part of my being.” Merlin laughed charmingly and eventually turned to the chamber doors.

“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t keep you trapped with me any longer, you probably have very princely duties to fulfil. We are seeing each other at dinner?” Arthur’s heart sank a little, as he wished to continue this talk for an eternity, but Merlin was right, he did have knight’s training in a few minutes and Uther wouldn’t particularly be filled with glee if Arthur missed his everyday duties, because of their new guest. Quickly he overplayed his sadness with a lovely smile and nodded.

“That’s right, I’ll see you then, Merlin.”

Merlin replied by simply nodding, then proceeded to enter his chambers. Arthur turned and walked away, just hearing the quiet sound of the doors being closed as he finds his way out of the castle and to the armoury in order to get ready for training.

 

 

Merlin happily fell onto the soft bed in his extraordinary nice chambers. Of course they gave it to him, after all he is a foreign king which they wish to form an alliance with. Though Merlin still couldn’t quite get used to the new term. _King._ He’s been called consort, advisor, right hand or the king’s husband all the time and now he was actually king. King of Essetir. And he was about to form an alliance with the oh so powerful kingdom Camelot, although there are still a few obstacles in their way. After all, Uther did seem to not quite believe Merlin yet to be actually Cenred’s former husband and legal King of Essetir. Plus merely the fact that he was gay, probably wasn’t to Uther’s likings. That his son, the prince Arthur Pendragon, seemed to be of divine beauty wasn’t helping Merlin’s situation either. He couldn’t allow himself to get too invested with the prince. Not yet at least, as he was just made king. He needed to prove that he was a powerful, fair and prominently good king on his own, most of all to himself. A knock eventually disturbed the king’s thoughts. Merlin wasn’t even given the time to reply, as the door was opened and Gwaine strutted in as if the place belonged to him. Merlin smiled amused.

“Ever so polite, right?”, he asked grinning, pushing himself in an upright position. Gwaine just smirked and closed the door behind him.

“So what’s your first impression, Merls? Think you can and want to form an alliance with Camelot?”, the knight questioned, whilst falling into one of the great wooden chairs at the small table just across the bed on which Merlin sat, a half – eaten apple in one hand.

“Well, I think Uther Pendragon does not trust me yet, he thinks I’m a fraud. He just acts like he respects me, in case he is proven wrong. I mean, if you take into account what he firmly believes in, he’s right not to trust me. After all, magic is still illegal in Camelot. Anyway, I believe that his son thinks otherwise. He seems to believe me.”

“He also appears to have stared at you for quite the amount of time”, Gwaine added with a sly grin. Merlin rolled his eyes.

“So what? I am a foreign king, that can be very interesting. I was also not the one they expected to meet.”

“It was not very heterosexual.”

“Oh stop talking like a match maker. I am not here to search for a new relationship, Gwaine, my literal _husband_ died just a month ago.” Promptly the knight’s gleeful expression fell and it was replaced by concern and sadness. Merlin couldn’t stand that expression, so he turned to look at the nice wooden furniture instead.

“Stop talking about him like that, Merlin. No one else is here to hear. You and I both know that he doesn’t deserve to be called your husband, or former husband, that is. You deserve to be happy with someone else.”

“However”, Merlin interjected, ignoring every worry his friend showed. “This is still not the time to be searching for a new boyfriend. I’m here, because of political reasons. It’s my first big thing to do as the new King of Essetir and I can’t screw this up. The people need to know that I am a good king on my own.”

“You mean _Camelot_ needs to know. Essetir does already. They’ve seen you as their king from the day of your marriage, maybe even earlier. I certainly saw you as a king already when Cenred was crowned. That Essetir did not yet fall is alone your doing, Merlin. It’s wealthy and powerful, because of you.”

Merlin laughed warmly.

“Wise words from a drunk.”

“Rude words from a king.”

“Thanks, Gwaine.”

The knight smiled cheerfully and proceeded to take a great bite of his apple.

“Any time, Merls. So any plans what we are going to do until dinner?”, he elegantly changed the topic with a curious grin.

“I know that Camelot’s knights are training right now. You could pay them a visit, see how good they are, maybe train a little yourself”, Merlin suggested.

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s see if they can beat me!” Excitedly the man jumped up and jogged towards the door, though hesitated as he reached it.

“You coming?”, he asked, carefully eyeing the king and best friend.

“Maybe a bit later, I’m a little exhausted from the trip and need to prepare myself mentally to talk to Uther again tonight.”

Another laugh left the bearded man and then he was gone out of the door. Merlin smiled as he watched the door close again and walked towards the window, through which he had a nice view over the courtyard and most of Camelot. Just a minute later he was able to watch Gwaine run out of the castle and over the courtyard, maybe a little too excited, and heading towards the training field, which Merlin could faintly make out behind some houses. Another knock pulled him out of his thoughts once more, though this time the person on the other side of the door waited for an answer and didn’t barge in right away.

“Yes, come in”, Merlin called, lifting his gaze from the view outside his window to see the polite intruder. In came a beautiful young woman with brown skin, curly hair and kind eyes. She was carrying blankets and beamed at the king, as soon as she caught side of him.

“I was sent to bring you extra blankets, my lord”, she told, whilst putting them down on the edge of the bed. “It’s going to be a cold knight and we don’t want you to get sick, your majesty.”

“That is very kind and considerate! Thank you for bringing these, what was your name again?” Merlin curiously watched the woman, who appeared slightly surprised, surely she didn’t expect the king to ask for a servant’s name, as he stepped away from the window.

“I’m Guinevere, my lord, but Gwen is alright.”

“A wonderful name, Gwen, so who do I have to thank for sending you?”, Merlin continued to ask, a lovely smile on his lips. Gwen smiled a bit wider.

“The Lady Morgana. I am her servant, she is the king’s ward.”

An odd kind of recognition went through Merlin’s head as he heard the name, sending a slight shiver down his spine.

“Morgana, you said? I think I’ve heard that name somewhere before. Do you know by chance if she ever travelled to Essetir? Perhaps to meet Cenred?” Gwen shook her head in confusion, smiling nonetheless.

“No, I think she did not, but you can ask her tonight at dinner, if you wish. She’s going to attend.”

“No, I think I’d rather ask her in private first. Do you think she’d be okay with meeting me alone in my or her chambers?”

“I will ask her right away, my Lord. If you want, you can follow me now, because I’m fairly certain she would love to meet you right away.” Merlin laughed warmly and nodded,

“Great! Oh and, please, call me Merlin. I’m not a huge fan of these formal titles.”

Gwen smiled once more, even more sincere and kind now with happy eyes.

“Very well, Merlin. Then follow me to the Lady’s chambers?”

“Right behind you, my lady.” A laugh from the servant and out of the door they were.

As they were roaming through the hallways, Merlin without his crown not much recognised, Gwen seemed to relax in his presence.

“That may sound weird, considering I just met you like five minutes ago, but I couldn’t help but notice how down to earth you are. I have seen only one unfamiliar knight so far and no foreign servants crossed my way, so did you just not bring any, or are they behind or what?”, she asked, her curious gaze eyeing him intently. Merlin laughed at that.

“I do get that a lot, even in Essetir. I do not like having servants for my own. I like doing things myself, though of course sometimes servants are needed but I do not like to think of them as personal property. They are part of the castles staff like in every other tavern. I only ever need Gwaine to accompany me on these journeys. He’s also the foreign knight you have seen, I guess.”

“Well, Morgana is a very considerate mistress and over all a lovely woman. She is my friend so I do not care if I am to help her everyday with whatever she may need.”

“Oh yes of course! I didn’t mean that I think having servants is slavery or something like that, god forbid! I just meant that I’d feel useless if someone had to help me with everything, but for others that might be no problem at all. Though it does make me a little uncomfortable to see how the king treats his servants. I’d be at least a little thankful or polite? He doesn’t have those kinds of character treats, does he?” A vicious laugh escaped the woman’s throat and she shook her head dramatically.

“Uther was never one for kind words, but it’s fine, we are used to it. It’s nothing unusual.”

“Yeah, Cenred tended to be like that, as well. I’ve always hated it, but he didn’t listen to me, no matter how often I reminded him of the servant’s names, or the fact that they _had_ names in the first place.”

Gwen didn’t respond to that, as they finally reached the door to the Lady Morgana’s bedchambers, which was probably for the best. The servant motioned something resembling ‘wait here’ in Merlin’s direction and cautiously entered the room. Merlin did as he was told and waited outside the door, observing the hallway and the guards, the windows and the view, the candles and the torches. He waited good five minutes until the door was opened once more and Gwen bid him in with a beaming smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally came around to finish the second chapter lmao sorry that it took so incredibly long! Hope you enjoy it anyway though, I tried my very best!
> 
> Please consider leaving Kudos or a Comment (they really make my life better and my whole week so much sweeter)!  
> \- Saturning


	3. Chapter 3

“So you are who they now call Merlin the King of Essetir?”

Merlin felt his magic tingle under his skin as Morgana spoke for the first time. Indeed, she was incredibly beautiful, even her voice, but that wasn’t the cause of Merlin’s magic acting up.

“I am and you are the Lady Morgana? I can’t say I have heard a lot about you, but certainly you look like a princess.”

For the first time, the Lady turned around on the chair she sat on and instantly fell silent, as she caught sight of Merlin, her smile vanished. She didn’t recognize him, no, that’s not what stood in her eyes, it was surprise and amazement, maybe also a hint of fear. Quickly she went up to him, now eye to eye she looked at the king closely.

“What do you want from me?”, she breathed almost silently. “Surely you’re not here to ask for my hand or to admire me. Servants are quick to talk and I know you have no interest in women, so what led you to me of all people?”

“Well, first of all, I wanted to say thank you for kindly sending your servant with extra blankets to me, that’s very considerate.”

“And second of all?” Merlin chuckled. As expected Morgana was a smart lady, who wouldn’t be fooled, but what else could you expect from a sorceress with powers like hers?

“I have come to realize that your name seemed to be a weird kind of familiar and I now understand why that is.”

In a split of a second, Morgana backed off, now clearly showing fear in every part of her face and body.

“Sorry, that may have been the wrong way to start this topic, wasn’t it?”, Merlin spoke apologetically. “I didn’t intend to scare you, I just meant to tell, that I know and that it’s _fine_ , but I’m sure you sensed that already?”

Carefully, she lowered her arms, which she had raised defensively before, but kept a safe distance from the king nonetheless.

“So I haven’t been mistaken? You, the actual King of Essetir, are a _sorcerer_?”, she asked in shock.

Merlin nodded contently.

“Just like you”, he added. A loud shattering sound broke the static atmosphere and caused both Merlin and Morgana to whirl around, just to see Guinevere standing there, mouth covered with her hands and the vase she held now lay broken to her feet.

“Gwen! Shit, I forgot you were still here, hey, what you just heard that- that was-”, Morgana stuttered helplessly, the fear had returned to her very soul.

“The undeniable truth”, Merlin finished calmly.

“No!”, Morgana denied, but her desperate voice gave it away. “I mean- yes, but I couldn’t help it, I- Oh Gwen, please don’t tell Uther.” Now tears rushed down the Lady’s cheeks and she sobbed uncontrollably. Merlin felt bad for her, knowing how hard it must have been, finding out you possess magic in a land that only ever shows its hatred against it. He knew what it felt like to wish for being normal, for the magic to go away, leaving no trace, but soon enough he learned to use it with pride and Morgana would, too, he was sure.

Gwen eventually broke from her frozen position and hurried to her mistresses side, embracing her dearly, as she sobbed.

“My Lady, please stop crying. It’s okay, really, I would never tell Uther. It’s not your fault and it’s not a shame, either”, she told her friend with extraordinary calm laying in her voice, whilst soothingly stroking her hair.

“For a servant that grew up in Camelot, you are surprisingly calm and positive towards magic”, Merlin noted, brows raised.

“I like to think that people should not be condemned for who they are and what they can do. Neither do we arrest people that possess any kind of weaponry, though it can be used to harm the people just as magic can, do we?”

Merlin felt warmth spreading in his chest. When there was one who thought of magic like this, there could be more. Magic was not yet lost in Camelot.

“I must say, I adore you, Guinevere. You have more honour than most people I know.” Gwen couldn’t suppress a proud smile.

“Thank you, Merlin. But may I ask, how you intend to form a bond with Camelot? If Uther found out, it could mean war, maybe he’d kill you on sight.” A worried undertone lay in the servant’s voice and made her merely more lovable. She cared for him as if they’d been friends for decades already, besides knowing him for less than a day.

“He wouldn’t dare kill me and he wouldn’t succeed either. I hold much more power than he can imagine and if he wants to start a war… he will loose. But surely we can sort this out without getting brutal.”

“Still, you want to form an alliance with a kingdom that fuels his rage for your kind with every time they kill one of you?” Merlin smiled to himself. When she said it like that, it did sound a bit ridiculous.

“No, I do not. I plan to reveal myself to Camelot and make them see sense. I will only form an alliance if magic is legalized. There’s only things to gain. Power, lots of power actually, an alliance and content citizens. In Essetir magic is legalized and our people couldn’t be much happier and peaceful.”

Morgana, who had stopped crying eventually, raised an eyebrow at that.

“I’ve heard that Essetir had gone to war more times than they can count in the last few years.”

“Maybe so, but we won each one of them and our people have never suffered from it. Though I do confess, the wars have been mostly unnecessary and I hated them. Cenred didn’t make a lot of wise choices”, Merlin shot right back. Needless to say, he had been no fan of Cenred’s way of being king and making great and mostly rash decision which would affect the land greatly. It was true, they always won but that was not due to Cenred or his strategies. It always came down to Merlin. Their people may have not suffered a lot or lost land, but surely a lot of soldiers died, good men who had family and friends. How many nights Merlin had lost in thought about the lifeless bodies, soaked with blood and eyes wide open, and the mourning cries from their loved ones. He hated every second of any war they participated in, necessary or not, which was why Merlin now tried everything to gain alliances instead of enemies. Maybe he wouldn’t need to go to war, though he was prepared to. If Camelot declared the war on magic once more and decided Essetir was too full of it, they’d get war. And they’d loose, like every other kingdom had. But there was hope. Hope for a time with no wars. No battles. No fights to the death.

Slowly Gwen nodded, nervously kneading her hands.

“We can only hope that what you say is true. I wouldn’t like to see a new beloved king being killed in the heart of Camelot, when the actual goal had been to form a bond. Essetir shouldn’t loose another king in such a short amount of time”, she told, biting down on her lower lip.

“I assure you, she won’t. I’m strong and I will make Uther see. I will do anything to prevent a war and death.”

“I certainly believe you and if I can be of any help-”, Morgana started but Merlin cut her off.

“I won’t pull you into this, my Lady. It’s dangerous enough already. I don’t know how Uther will react and I can’t have you get in danger because of me. I know that I can protect myself if it comes down to the worst, but you never had the chance to practice your magic and learn to control it, I fear that you would be much more helpless.”

“I’m not helpless!”

“I know _you_ aren’t, that’s not what I meant, but your magic is. If Uther decides to kill you, he’ll succeed.”

“Then teach me! Please, I have never met another sorcerer so skilled and powerful and I don’t want to be helpless or weak! Merlin, I _want_ to be proud and I _want_ to be skilled, but how can I achieve that on my own in a land filled with hatred against my very being?” Morgana had grabbed his arm and looked at him with big desperate eyes, begging for his help, for his knowledge. How could Merlin turn her down? She was just a girl with no way to learn how to control the power that was woven in the fibre of her very being. She didn’t have the privilege to grow up in a land that accepted magic, surrounded by other sorcerers who could help her grow stronger, like Merlin had. She couldn’t practice as she liked. A fond smile now decorated the king’s face.

“You remind me of myself, Morgana. So determined and a lot of willpower. You’ll be a strong sorceress and with my help, we can push the boundaries.” Her eyes widened and within a second she embraced the foreign king, which she had met merely minutes ago.

“Thank you so much, Merlin! I will not forget your kindness, I promise! And when the time comes, I will repay you and stand by your side in the fight for magic.”

“That’s great to hear. We can get started tomorrow if you wish? Dinner is in only one hour and I promised to follow Gwaine to the knight’s training, so I don’t have time at the moment.”

A great smile on her lips Morgana nodded, excitement striking through every part of his body, while Gwen watched, smiling as well.

“Is Gwaine a knight of yours?”, Morgana asked curious.

“Yes, he’s my head knight and best friend.”

“Would it bother you if I accompanied you at the trainings field? I like watching foreign knights fight, their techniques amaze me.” Merlin laughed heartily.

“Oh, then you’ll just love to watch Gwaine. He can really be.. something else. But that makes him so good! Gwen, you wanna come, too?” Guinevere hesitated for a second, her eyes darting between Merlin and Morgana, but in the end she agreed, saying that she promised to watch Lancelot fight sometime as well. Morgana cheered gleefully and almost ran out of the room in excitement, Merlin and Gwen following her closely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Another update so soon! But don't get too used to it, I'm not sure I can keep this speed up, haha.  
> I hope you enjoyed this chaper, I certainly enjoyed writing it! Good and wholesome Morgana is and will always be my favourite.  
> Excited for what comes next? 
> 
> If you enjoyed please consider leaving Kudos and a comment!! They really make me incredibly happy for the whole day, if not longer!  
> Thank you for reading and keeping up!  
> \- Saturning


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